Unified Terran Community

Well, here we are again.  I’m taking a small break from writing ‘The High Watchtower’ and noticed I hadn’t done a Blog entry for a while, so I thought it might make a nice change of pace.  In addition to the forthcoming story, there are a couple of other things on the boil at the Community that I thought you might be interested in hearing about.  Firstly, the UTC website will soon feature its very own Mnemosyne Device.  Thats right folks, soon you will be able to discover your first incarnation and also how that particular incarnation came to an end.  As with the stories, Newsletter subscibers will have a 24 hour preview period to make use of before the Device is displayed for general use.  There’s another couple of book reviews, ‘Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang’ by Kate Wilhelm and ‘Concrete Island’ by J.G. Ballard, the first one has cloning as one of its themes (and incest, but more of that later..), while the second, well, if ‘Robinson Crusoe’ was a grim urban nightmare, this would be it.  I hope that made sense.  There will also be another background article to preceed ‘The High Watchtower’.  It will be in a similar vein to the one before it, and will contain further hints of things to come.  Anyway, stuff to do and so on, so after gently reminding you about the newsletter again I will bid you farewell!  Hope to see you soon!

unifiedterrancommunity@gmail.com

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Although the Unified Terran Community has no single leader, as such, they were initially guided by the vision of a cabal of scientists, philosophers and philanthropists. Pre-eminent among them was the man known as Heru Seleem. The precise origins of the man are shrouded in mythology, it seems, however, that Heru Seleem was the first human to retain full memory of his previous incarnations every time he was reborn. Heru was believed to have been born in Egypt near the end of the period referred to, by twenty first century scholars, as the Early Dynastic Period. It is thought that Seleem was a member of the Egyptian priesthood on several incarnations, as well as living diverse other lives serving as advisor to several Pharaohs, as well as developing numerous agricultural and alchemical techniques over several lifetimes. Many of the advances in agriculture which made food readily available Egypt were methods pioneered by Seleem. For Seleem himself, his most useful discovery was an alchemical recipe, ancient even then, which taught him the skills required to create living, but soulless simulacra. He used these vessels to reincarnate himself into an adult form, so that he could continue whatever work was consuming him at that time.

As the centuries rolled past, Seleem wandered the planet, exploring the rise and fall of a multitude of civilisations. As Seleem travelled, he began to see a pattern emerging from the history of ages. He began to take note of what aspects of a culture caused its initial growth and prosperity as well as taking note of the characteristics of cultural degeneration. He slowly began to conceive of a society where mankind could truly prosper. The main obstacle to overcome was the implementation of this massive cultural change. Seleem swiftly realised he would require considerable time and help to realise his plan and began to seek out certain individuals who he felt would see the value of his scheme. As preparations slowly built, Seleem was saddened and frustrated by the loss of his comrades to the inevitability that was death, and subsequent loss of memory upon reincarnation. Seleem understood the cause of the phenomena, and began to dream of a method of crossing the Lethean Barrier, while retaining recollection of past events. Employing principles conceived of by Pythagoras, Seleem began to work on the prototype of the Mnemosyne Device during the sixteenth century, aided in his work by Dr John Dee, advisor to the English Queen, Elizabeth I. During this period, Seleem also had frequent contact with Francis Bacon, whose ideas, he strongly influenced. When the first Mnemosyne Device was finally constructed in the seventeenth century, Dr Dee was the first soul to employ it as a means of incarnating into a simulacrum. Seleem carefully hid the Device from world at large, and began to approach the people who eventually become the founders of the Unified Terran Community.

Meanwhile, the endemic violence of the human race continued. Despite not actively fighting, Seleem was killed sixty three times during the Second World War. By this time, Seleem had seen thousands of years of conflict and strife between the nations of man and had concluded that a truly fundamental change had to occur. Seleem gathered his technologist allies and, in the dark days of the early twenty first century, they made their move. It took the rest of that incarnation for Seleem and his allies to stabilize the Community. As he approached the end of his incarnation, Seleem announced that he would not return immediately, but instead planned to explore the spirit world and return once he had learned the ‘wisdom of the distant shadows’. That was a little over two hundred years ago, and no one has seen or heard from Heru Seleem since.

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Day to day life in the Unified Terran Community is radically different to life in our own time. As mentioned previously, all of the repetitive, laborious work is now in the hands of specially designed robots. This and the work of the Bio Engineers in providing synthetic but nutritious food for all have profoundly altered the nature of humanity. Freed from the monotony of the capitalist system, with the abolition of currency, the members of the Community are able to focus their energies on more rewarding activities. Numerous project groups exist, developing improved technologies, accumulating centuries of knowledge and providing entertainment for the society. These groups generally have no one who can easily be identified as being ‘in charge’ and conflict is rare. If a group member is unhappy with the direction the group is working towards, he or she need simply leave and find or form another group more suited to their tastes. Many groups have overlapping spheres of activity, indeed, the Life Engineers and the Bio Engineers were one group initially. As time and the Community progressed, the group splintered in two although some technology, such as genetic manipulation and cloning is the product of both groups activities.

Significantly, there is no obligation, no pressure from the rest of the Community, to join a group. The principle reason this is possible is the activities of the Bio Engineers. With their mastery of synthetic biology, these technologists can manufacture limitless supplies of food and are also responsible for ‘growing’ the lightweight, incredibly strong materials that buildings are constructed from. These materials, in turn are developed to be able to convert sunlight into usable energy. Thus with free food, shelter and energy, humankind is finally able to develop it’s potential. An atmosphere of cooperation over competition is created. Obviously, Community members are free, and encouraged, to pursue personal interests as well. The philosophy of the Community is that anything which does not harm the Community, enriches it in some fashion. As all members of the Community are considered equal, so too are the groups regarded. Certain groups would appear to be more crucial to the functioning of the Community, but even these are cross dependent on numerous other groups. Each group requires the others to function to the best of it’s ability.

There is an emphasis on familial groups within the Community. However, with the advent of Seleem’s Mnemosyne Device and consequently a knowledge of past incarnations, the concept of Shadow Families has evolved. The Shadow Family is an extended group of souls, who have, down through the ages, always been born into the same mortal family tree. These souls are considered to be linked in some fashion. Another facet of this idea is that of Shadow Partners, lovers who have frequently or always found each other during incarnations. So far the Psychonauts and Life Engineers have advanced several theories as to why some souls seem eternally drawn to each other, none however has been taken as the consensus opinion.

Individuality is prized and greatly encouraged within the Community. This had lead to eccentric settlements comprised of buildings constructed in a bewildering array of styles, ranging from the ancient to the fantastical. Unhindered by an industry dictating certain modes of dress, the clothing favoured by the Community members is rich and varied. Numerous textile groups exist and manufacture clothing designs limited only by their imaginations. The current fashion for naming in the Community is to employ the name of one’s first incarnation, though this is by no means a firm rule.

The members of the Community are free to pursue their interests and desires, all the Community asks in return is that no harm is brought to the other members of the Community in the process.

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